Never mind the angst of installing an outdoor exhibition of often immense works to remain in Regent’s Park throughout the summer. Or the risk of a downpour on the entirely al-fresco opening. The primary concern of the Frieze artistic director Jo Stella-Sawicka was that, despite their near-identical due dates, the appearance of her impending offspring would not coincide with last night’s (4 July) unveiling of the newly extended Frieze Sculpture. The exhibition now runs from 5 July until the closing of the art fair on 8 October. As it was, the eager throng of invitees—including many of the participating artists and their gallerists—gathered under dry skies and S-S Junior remained obediently in utero.
The only slight frisson of the evening came courtesy of the recently appointed Tate supremo Maria Balshaw who, in her ribbon-cutting speech, remarked that 20 years ago contemporary art was: “a little bit like fencing in the Olympics, it needed quite a lot of explaining and you would only see it in the late-night schedules. And now it’s like athletics, it’s the thing that we want at the heart of our public parks”.
However, at the celebratory dinner later in the evening Frederic Dufour, the president of Ruinart champagne—and major sponsor of Frieze—jocularly took issue with La Balshaw’s analogy, gently pointing out that in France fencing is a widely enjoyed popular sport. En garde! Or, as we used to say in happier pre-Brexit times, vive la difference!
